Spotlight: Melanie Rae Thon [Poet/Writer]

I had the pleasure of attending a reading, workshop, and dinner with writer Melanie Rae Thon early last week. While I will go into the details of those events in a separate entry, I want to take this opportunity to introduce you to Melanie.

Who Is Melanie Rae Thon?

Despite the spelling (“Thon”), her last name is pronounced “Tone”—a homophone with appropriately lyric associations. In reading TheVoice of the River (Melanie’s most recent novel),it was difficult for me to categorize the work, especially when I described it to friends. Eventually I gave up and just said, “You know what? It’s a poem. It’s a novel-length poem.”

This is a comment on the style, density, and beauty of the work—meant as neither compliment nor insult but as a way to say, “This ain’t your typical prose.”

“One of the most original stylists writing fiction today.”

Image courtesy of Andi Olsen

Melanie’s reputation as being “one of the most original stylists writing fiction today” is well-earned—and well-recognized. Thon has received numerous awards and grants, including from the Gina Berriault Award for Fiction, the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation, the National Foundation for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, The O. Henry Prize, Utah Book Awards,

Thon has published four novels (Meteors,Iona Moon,Sweet Hearts, and The Voice of the River) and three short-story collections (Girls in the Grass;First, Body; and In This Light). Her work has been published in a variety of collections and journals, including the ’95 and ’96 editions of Best American Short Stories.

Melanie currently teaches at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has taught previously at Emerson College, Syracuse University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Ohio State University. It was clarified during our dinner that she was not “Dr Thon,” having completed an MFA program but not a PhD; the various writers at the dinner event quickly took to calling her “Master Thon” instead.

Samples of Melanie’s Work

I often describe poetic language as “tasting good.” I’m not referring to a synesthetic sensation but to a physical pleasure that we don’t have exact terminology for. When reading a finely constructed lyric phrase aloud, the mouth rolls comfortably around the words while the ear gets the immediate pleasure of the language itself; it’s an auditory-kinesthetic “tastiness.”

Few writers have work as tasty as Melanie’s. I enjoyed this element of the lyric experience enough that I spent several hours down by Provo River reading her work aloud to myself with the river playing rhythm in the background. It was a feast of sound.

To give some notion of what I mean, here’s a recording of the opening section of The Voice of the River:

Melanie’s work is also available online. Check out the following excerpts and stories:

🙂 Thank you for deleting your “very.” I really should devote a full entry to why yes/no adjectives shouldn’t be used with “very.” A cheat-sheet would probably be useful too. I know I mess up on it sometimes; e.g., “Very functional.”

incase your current topic is usually already defined,students In case conduct a great thorough research towards topic sooner commencing to help write. However, almost all students lack ones needed skill to be able to perform a great detailed research, ALONG WITH they end up writing essays which can be shallow ALONG WITH anyone That lack professional arrangement AND ALSO formatting.

Merely by immediately after evaluating ones write-up I’ve got check out learn a few fantastic understanding of the long run education approach Most of these sort of thought is in fact in a position produce us all a certain notion relating to each of our property. Why don’t we expect through forthcoming chances are you’ll offers people as well as details along these lines.

The idea of certification, dollars, along with distinctive stature should not be the basis of deciding on this collegiate route to education. Schooling need to be determined by types ability to attain, preserve, along with implement education…

The idea of certification, dollars, along with distinctive stature should not be the basis of deciding on this collegiate route to education. Schooling need to be determined by types ability to attain, preserve, along with implement education.

Is this kind of not really disparaging to your college student who may have researched pc scientific disciplines, study along with write pc plans and its languages, as well as other academics of review?…

The knowledge accomplished seriously isn’t thought to be or perhaps tried by several of these employers. Kiosk sort photographs on a cash-register computer system are generally just what they must talk with…